Suntech is in its tenth year of manufacturing solar panels and as part of the company’s celebrations is running two competitions in Australia.
The Suntech Consumer Super Draw is open to purchasers of Suntech solar panels (system size1kW or larger) who have paid a deposit and placed an order with their solar installer between 1 November 2011 and 31 January 2012; or those who have had Suntech panels installed after 28th September 2011.
The Super Draw has a grand prize of an eco-friendly home retrofit up to the value of $20,000 and the winner will be announced on February 3, 2012. Runners-up in the Super Draw will receive one of 30 solar chargers. Two 4 x $1,000 cash prize draws will also occur in December and January.
In an additional competition called Solar Search; entrants will be in the running to win a digital camera, iPad or iPhone by stating in 25 words or less ‘the benefits of Suntech to you’, and uploading a photo of their Suntech solar power system.
Full details of the competitions and online entry forms can be viewed on the Celebrate Suntech web site.
While based in China, Suntech’s history is very much intertwined with Australia. Suntech’s CEO and founder, Dr. Zhengrong Shi, is a graduate of the University of NSW. Suntech Pluto solar cells are based on PERL technology, also developed also at the University of NSW.
Suntech also teamed up with Australia’s Swinburne University of Technology in 2009 for a project to create the next generation of solar cells, under the Victoria-Suntech Advanced Solar Facility (VSASF) initiative.
Over the last decade, Suntech says it has supplied 5 gigawatts of solar panel for installations in 80 countries around the world and created 175,000 jobs during that time.
Suntech’s panels generate 5 trillion watt hours of solar electricity each year says the company, enough to offset 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide annually and to provide solar energy for over one million people.
